Banking hours extension excites customers

Customers have hailed some commercial banks for extending business hours.

National Bank of Malawi (NBM) and FMB last year extended business hours, joining Ecobank and FDH Bank which had the longest working hours. Both Ecobank and FDH Bank open at 8am and close at 4pm.

Grace Nkhoma, who sells cosmetics at Blantyre Market, told Business News last Friday that she is excited with the extension.

“In the past, I would close my shop before 3pm to dash to the bank to deposit morning sales, thereby losing an opportunity to make more sales.

“At times, I would fail to make it to the bank and take huge sums of money home,” she said.

NBM corporate affairs manager Annie Magola was yet to respond to our questionnaire, but she was quoted in the media as saying her bank extended business hours in shopping centres to give businesspeople more time to bank their daily proceeds.

FMB general manager for corporate and commercial banking Phillip Madinga told Business News that the move to extend business hours was in response to their customers’ needs.  n